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|| ------> Mass Effect 2: Insanity Mode <------ ||
|| v 1.1 Tirdun's Walkthrough and Guide v 1.1 ||
||__________________________________________________________________________||
|/__________________________________________________________________________\|
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| 1.0 INTRODUCTION |
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This is Tirdun's guide to completing Mass Effect 2 on Insanity Mode. It also
covers getting a perfect ending on the suicide mission. I hope it's useful in
keeping you from smashing any controllers or giving up.
v1.1: Added a few minor updates to missions and redid the entire final mission
with advice on specific sections & the end boss.
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| <[[ = SPOILER WARNING = ]]> |
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| If you're reading this you're going to get spoilers. |
| This is the only warning you're going to get. |
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| 1.1 Contact Info |
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You can email me at tirdun at yahoo dot com. I may or may not respond.
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| 1.2 Audio Visual Setup |
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If these two lines match up, your visual setup is complete.
|ABC|DEF|GHI|JKL|MNO|PQR|STU|VWX|YZ)|!@#|X%^|&*(\|
|abc|def|ghi|jkl|mno|pqr|stu|vwx|yz0|123|456|789/|
Otherwise, you need to switch to a single-spaced font like Courier.
Oh, and there is no audio set up unless you're reading this out loud.
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| 1.3 Location Shorthand |
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Planets are named Cluster > System > Orbit
So Earth would be Local > Sol > 3
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| 1.4 Table of Contents |
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Each section has a X.Y number. Search for it using your browser (CTRL+F) and
you'll find that section.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
> 1.0 Introduction <
--+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.1 Contact Info | 1.2 Audio Visual Setup |
| 1.3 Location Shorthand | 1.4 TOC |
--+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 2.0 Insanity Tactics <
--+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2.1 Cover & Flanking | 2.2 Bait & Retreat |
| 2.3 Weapon Combos | 2.4 Teammate Placement |
| 2.5 General Enemies | 2.6 Melee Enemeies |
| 2.7 Loki | 2.8 YMIR & Geth Prime |
| 2.9 Praetorian | 2.10 Harbinger |
--+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 3.0 Missions <
--+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.1 Prologue & Freedom's Progress | 3.2 Mordin |
| 3.3 Grunt | 3.4 Jack |
| 3.5 Prep Work | 3.6 Garrus |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.7 Horizon |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.8 Everything Except Recruiting |
| 3.8.1 N7: Blood Pack Communications Relay (2 missions) |
| 3.8.2 N7: Captured Mining Facility (1 mission) |
| 3.8.3 N7: Wrecked Merchant Freighter (3 missions) |
| 3.8.4 N7: Quarian Crash Site (1 mission) |
| 3.8.5 N7: MSV Estevanico (1 mission) |
| 3.8.6 N7: Abandoned Mine (1 mission) |
| 3.8.7 N7: Archaeological Dig Site (3 missions) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.9 Jacob Loyalty | 3.10 Grunt Loyalty |
| 3.11 Mordin Loyalty | 3.12 Jack Loyalty |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.13 Samara | 3.14 Thane |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.15 Ghost Ship |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.16 Samara Loyalty | 3.17 Thane Loyalty |
| 3.18 Tali | 3.19 Miranda Loyalty |
| 3.20 Legion | 3.21 Tali Loyalty |
| 3.22 Legion Loyalty | 3.23 Everything but Omega 4 |
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| 3.24 Suicide Mission |
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| 3.0 TACTICS |
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| 2.1 Cover & Flanking |
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This should be assumed, but cover is the only way you'll survive. Know how
to get into cover and know how to find new cover. In general, you should look
for places with the fewest entry spots and the longest field of fire in front
of them. Also important is where you put your teammates, they can usually be
put off to the side or far in front to draw enemy fire and give you time to
perform headshots. This can also present opportunities to arc around your
enemies to shoot them while they are in cover.
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| 2.2 Bait & Retreat |
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Unity will bring your teammates back so don't be afraid to abandon your
position to find a better location further back. Better still, don't hesitate
to send your teammates into an area to flush out enemies or reveal their
locations. Even more useful is pre-staging your team-mates before the attack
begins to interrupt charges by melee creatures (Varren) or mechs.
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| 2.3 Weapon Combos |
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Overload shields. Warp barriers. Use team incindiary ammo. You will experience
ammo starvation, so don't fire everything you have at a Blood Pack member
unless you're preventing them from regenerating. Shockwave is an exceptional
tool in pushing enemies back once their shields are down, and it also works
well in breaking their cover. If you don't have it, take a teammember who does
(Jack) and map it. You will want overload, make sure someone has it and that
you've mapped it to a command.
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| 2.4 Team Placement |
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I recommend placing team members ahead and to the sides in a firefight if at
all possible. Let them absorb the damage and draw the fire while you snipe
from a distance. You can bring them back with Unity or by beating all the
local enemies, they don't have that option. Don't have sniper rifle? The
hand cannon is almost as effective, or you can use biotics from a good
distance. If you insist on charging in, set your team up to one side as a
distraction and flank.
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| 2.5 General Enemies |
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For most mercs and other cover-focused enemies you need to break their
defenses, flush them out and kill them. Focus on:
1- Melee enemies and Loki first. They're outside cover and will close on
you. Spread your team, find rear cover and take them out quickly.
Remember lift and shockwave work best when shields are down, but
shockwave will still stagger an enemy.
2- Heavy weapons. Find the rocket-launcher enemy and kill him.
3- Engineers and snipers.
4- Everybody else.
The fastest way to take out cover-enemies is to break their shields (overload,
warp) and then to lift them or use shockwave to send them flying. While in
lift mode, enemies take a ton of damage.
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| 2.6 Melee Enemies |
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This means Varren, FENRIS mechs, Klixen and Husks.
I recommend shotguns and no cover unless you're fighting more than just
these. Best course of action is to retreat and snipe/biotic their armor, then
shotgun them as they approach. shockwave will scatter Varren, giving you more
time to find a safe, open area to fight.
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| 2.7 Loki |
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Loki mechs become vastly more dangerous in Insanity mode. With their new
armor, better guns and larger groups, they can overwhelm you through sheer
numbers and aggressive attacks. Bottlenecks are key: find a way to force the
mechs into a long, narrow corridor and attack them from cover. Where possible,
I've listed these in the missions.
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| 2.8 YMIR & Geth Prime |
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There are two approaches to killing YMIR and Geth Prime: Sniping and Bait.
If possible, do as much damage as you can from a distance by trapping the
YMIR/GP behind something. They're not very agile and tend to be slow to respond
to the environment. YMIR also don't pay much attention to you at sniper range,
even if you pound on them with heavy weapons. I tend to use the collector
beam, which burns through both shields and armor.
For YMIR at close quarters, send your team to safe firing points and circle
something. The mech will slowly follow you and take damage from your friends,
who have unlimited ammo.
For Geth Prime at close quarters, retreat and find a safe firing point.
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| 2.9 Praetorian |
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The Praetorian are difficult for their close quarters slam, the speed they eat
through shields and the ton of ammo needed to knock them down. My strong
recommendation is to let your friends do all the work. You can usually get the
Praetorian by itself, after which all you need to do is send your team
somewhere safe to shoot and move slowly around cover in circles. The Praetorian
will focus exclusively on you and your team won't run out of ammo. Yeah, it's
pretty boring but you will kill it.
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| 2.10 Harbinger |
[]==============================================+============================[]
Leave the Harbinger for last, kill all the other collectors first, otherwise
you'll just have to fight him again. Once he's by himself, fight as if he were
a YMIR/Prime.
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| 3.0 MISSIONS |
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I'm going to assume you've got all available weapons via a first playthrough.
If you missed one or two, you should be ok. For these missions, you're going
to absolutely need to understand firing from cover and controlling your
teammates.
I strongly suggest the following order, mostly because it will give you team
members with skills requried. Remember the planet with all the rogue Loki
mechs? They'll tear you apart on Insanity.
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| 3.1 Prologue & Freedom's Progress |
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| Team: Miranda and Jacob |
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The first missions [[Prologue: Save Joker]] and [[Prologue: Awakening]] are
fairly straightforward. If you're unable to complete these, you're not going
to beat Insanity mode. As with all missions, make sure you grab all the cash
and stuff laying around, you'll need those upgrades.
[[Freedom's Progress]]
For the flying rocket turrets, stay on the steps and let your buddies do
most of the work. Overload works well.
For the Fenris mechs, fall back and use your shotgun.
For the YMIR, I recommend moving into the building on the left, putting
Miranda and Jacob at the doors on the right in cover and firing from the
windows. As long as you maintain cover, you shouldn't have too much trouble.
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| 3.2 Mordin |
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| Team: Miranda and Jacob |
[]===========================================================================[]
Getting to Mordin is just a series of cover-battles.
1- First corner. I moved Jacob and Miranda into the room (send them to the
closest crates for cover) and attacked from the doorframe/hallway.
Remember to take out the Krogan and rocket launcher guys first, team
incindiary ammo is a must. You shouldn't have to enter the room at all until
you've killed nearly every merc, move right from the doorway to the small
set of steps for a different angle.
2- After rescuing the Assistant, go up onto the balcony on the right. You
can fall back down the stairs for even more cover.
3- Outside the Control Room: Standard cover battle, go down the steps so you can
retreat back up them.
3- The big finale is a pain, after depositing the cure, move your team ahead
and use lift alot. You're really going to want a sniper rifle for the guys up
on the ledges. Worst case: send your team forward to draw fire and use the
semiauto to wear the Vorcha down.
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| 3.3 Grunt |
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| Team: Miranda and Mordin |
[]===========================================================================[]
Although Garrus is nearby, I skip him. You're going to want Grunt for that
and the next few missions. The battles here are fairly standard run and cover
up to the end. Until you meet the first Krogan, it's nothing unusual.
1- Krogan charge. The Krogan -might- be infinite, either way set Mordin and
Miranda up at the bottom of the ramp at the closer of the two tunnels, then
run in as bait. Command Overload and Incinerate and you'll get a gap to
run forward through.
2- Finale. After the conversation go down the steps to the door and cheat.
If you don't let everyone through the door, it won't lock and you can lure
the Krogan into the stairwell by locking Miranda and Mordin at the landing.
This gets a little hairy, but you've got to clear them out without the YMIR
and Jedore pounding you. Once the krogan are down, snipe the YMIR from
the doorway, then pick off Jedore at will.
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| 3.4 Jack |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Mordin or Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
More run and cover.
1- Betrayed: Stay in the back of the room, set your team and lure the Fenris
and other Blue Suns out. Best not to fight in the hallway.
2- Big Room 1: I stay waaaay back in the trench and lure people forward. The
YMIR is a pain, but you can get it stuck on all the junk in the trench and
snipe/beam it. Send Grunt forward to draw out Blue Suns.
3- Big Room 2: Go left and up for a sniping position. It's the same situation
as the last room.
4- Kuril: Kill all the guys from the back of the room, then send your guys
up the right side to draw out the guards. Repeat left. Kill Kuril last.
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| 3.5 Prep Work |
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| Team: Doesn't matter |
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You're going to automatically start [[Horizon]] after the next recruitment,
so make sure to hit the stores on the Citadel and Omega to buy whatever
upgrades you can.
- Do all the talk/fetch missions on Omega.
- Do all the talk/fetch missions on Citadel.
- Do the Normandy purchase missions while you're there (brandy/couplings/food)
- Talk to everyone on the Normandy to find out about upgrades and buy
anything other than ship upgrades (you can buy them later).
If you feel confident with Grunt and Jack, you can do some of the planet
missions, because Garrus and Horizon are a pain in the tail.
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| 3.6 Garrus |
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| Team: Grunt and Jack\Miranda |
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Grunt and J/M become my default team at this point. Grunt is my bait, Jack
or Miranda soften (Overload) or finish guys off (Shockwave). I'll mention
other setups as I go, but the only other substitution is Garrus for J/M if
I need another sniper/heavy.
Note:
Make sure you disable the YMIR and ship, go ahead and take the Renegade
points even if you're playing a good guy, you'll have enough to not worry
about this little incident.
1- Waves: Fairly simple. Attack from the bridge side of the upstairs room
until they get past, then switch to the staircase side so you can shoot
guys coming up. If they get up the stairs, set your team at the window and
move to the door. There's fair cover and you should be able to wear down
anyone before they get into the room.
2- Split: If you're playing nice, leave Grunt here. You'll need biotics over
gunpower. Race to the central switch and brace yourself for the next step.
3- Right Door: I recommend sniping from the door (make sure you focus on the
Varren or they'll sneak up on you) then send Jack\Miranda forward and charge
to the switch before the Krogan arrives. It's not that he's hard, fighting
him is going to slow you down a lot, and you really need to get to the
next door.
4- Left Door: This is all about sending J/M ahead and using a ton of biotics
to push the Vorcha back. Snipe from the door, send J/M forward and pound them
with lift & shockwave until you're to the corner. You have to move quickly
to get to the switch, retreat really isn't an option.
5- Final Push: Garrus is a moron who gets shot a lot here. I don't know why.
I had to move directly into his way to force him to find a better spot
during the attacks because he insisted on standing at the windows and getting
sniped by guys in the far room. It's all about finding cover and
sniping/heavy weapons on the ship. Send Grunt to cover the side where the
troops arrive, you should be all the way in the back behind the couch.
There's a small window on the far left where you can safely shoot at the
dropship without it firing back.
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| 3.7 Horizon |
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| Team: Grunt and Garrus |
[]===========================================================================[]
I've done this with Jack, but Garrus has more weapons and you're going to
need ammo for this. Most of the early battles are straightforward, find cover
and kill everything except Harbinger, then kill him.
1- After the tool shed: As soon as you walk up the hill you'll be attacked by
Husks, heavies and the Harbinger. It's a nightmare and there's simply no place
to get cover. I've beaten this area in two ways: First, you can get cover
behind the building on the far side. It's almost directly ahead of you from the
shed door (left after the low wall, up the steps) and you'll only have to cover
left and right. This is a crap shoot, though, and Grunt kept jumping into the
window and getting killed.
You can also take cover behind the rust colored things on your left, just
outside the door. I put Grunt at the wall (he won't trigger the enemies) and
took Garrus to cover. This was sketchy because Harbinger rushed us. Sorry,
there's no simple way to do this.
2- Immediately afterward: DO NOT LET THE BIG DOOR CLOSE. You can skip the first
wave of this by sending Grunt and Garrus to the transmitter while you stand
outside. They'll kill the two Scions behind the wall w/o getting hurt and
you'll completely skip the Husks. It can be a little challenging to get them
to move into the area without you, just inch the "go-here" arrow further and
further out while standing under the door.
3- Push the Button: When you hit the switch, retreat to the walkway on the
left side. Set Garrus/Grunt at the left ramp and take the right ramp. You'll
avoid most of the attacks and get a good angle w/ a sniper rifle.
4- Praetorian: As mentioned above, don't fight it. Put Garrus and Grunt as
far away from the transmitter as you can (sticking them on the ramp from the
last wave works, just make sure you do a new "go here" command) and slowly
walk around the trucks. The Praetorian will ignore them (if they're far enough
away) and fire at you. Let them kill it, you have no time limit (despite EDI's
nagging) and they have unlimited ammo.
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| 3.8 Everything Except Recruiting |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Whoever |
[]===========================================================================[]
As with Horizon, there's another must-do mission coming up: The Ghost Ship.
And as with Horizon, it's a pain. So go to Illium. Do all the talk/fetch
missions. Buy upgrades. Make sure you buy the star charts! These will give
you a chance to find a few tech upgrades, get to level 30 if you're not
there yet and collect cash to buy even more upgrades. Make sure you complete
all the missions in your Journal and do a last check for upgrades on Illium,
Citadel, Omega and Tuchunka.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.1 N7: Blood Pack Communications Relay |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt/Garrus and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Part 1: Crescent Nebula > Lusarn > 4 (Tarinth)
Part 2: N7: Blood Pack Base
Shrike Abyssal > Xe Cha > 1 (Zada Ban)
There's nothing special about these, lots of Vorcha and a Krogan boss.
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| 3.8.2 N7: Captured Mining Facility |
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| Team: Grunt/Garrus and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Part 1: Crescent Nebula > Zelene > 2 (Helyme)
Run & cover to the right, then decrypt the data. While it's decrypting, fall
back a bit so you don't get flanked the way you came. Lift is nice because
the Eclipse mercs will often fall into the central hole.
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| 3.8.3 N7: Wrecked Merchant Freighter |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Garrus/Miranda/Jack |
[]===========================================================================[]
Part 1: Eagle Nebula > Amun > 4 (Neith)
You may actually want to do your team's loyalty missions first, or pick
up Tali/Legion later for their anti-mech biotic skills. This was a breeze on
the standard difficulties but on Insanity the waves of Loki are murderous.
Also, I never survived a sprint to the shuttle from any position, there are
always 4 - 6 Loki shooting at you, and they'll rip through your shields even
with extra biotic cover. Instead focus on killing -all- of them. They are
limited (check the cargo manifest) and as soon as the last one dies you'll
automatically exit the mission.
I recommend you take 4 positions and kill mechs using the wait & bait method.
First, put your teammates behind cover up on the hill, then go down and lure
the mechs back. You can then take cover behind your guys and snipe/biotic/
shoot the mechs as they walk toward you. The right side (facing back toward
the shuttle) offers the most cover, I think.
Once the mechs stop coming to the hill, move forward to the first X shaped
cover area (there's a med kit on top) before the fork. Set your team in cover
behind this and bait the mechs on the right and left pathways.
From this position you should be able to lure the YMIR out. From the fork you
can snipe/beam his shields and armor off, then continue to draw mechs out.
This position will allow you to kill the lion's share of the Loki, they'll
appear from the left edge on the far side of the right-hand path and you can
easily retreat toward the center behind some debris. This gives you an easy
spot to use shockwave through the junk, or you can drop back and snipe. Your
team can either stay at the X or move to the right side of the right path.
Finally, move up the LEFT side. It's more open and you can send your team
ahead to suck up some of the damage. The Loki will come from behind the
shuttle on both sides, usually 2 left and 3 right. You can move forward to
another X shaped thing, but it's not quite as safe.
Again, the mission will simply end when you've killed all the Loki.
Part 2: N7: Abandoned Research Station
Eagle Nebula > Strabo
This is essentially a big puzzle. The only dangerous part is the steam.
Part 3: N7: Hahne-Kedar Facility
Titan Nebula > Haskins > 1 (Capek)
More mechs = more fun. Wait & bait again, this time take someone with
biotics (I took Jack) so you can shoot through corners at the Loki. The best
position seems to be on top of the ramp that leads into the main area full
of crates. Put your team up here and go bait the mechs that come from the
right side of the room. You can retreat up the ramp and then u-turn back
so you're standing above them. The Loki will often get stuck on the handrail
of the ramp. I think the mechs will keep spawning, so eventually move down
the right side to the corner, where there's a small dead-end that serves as
\good cover. From then, it's just moving from cover to cover through the
short maze.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.4 N7: Quarian Crash Site |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Garrus/Jack |
[]===========================================================================[]
Part 1: Hades Nexus > Shiol > 1 (Gei Hinnom)
This is a pain. There are two ways to attempt this:
A) Switch everyone to shotguns and stage both team members in front of the
Quarian. Stand near the entrance to the area and try to take down the
sheilds of the Varren as they approach w/ heavy weapons or a sniper rifle.
Your team will then take them out. You have the opion of using shockwave
and lift to send them flying.
B) Put a team member in front of each pair of caves. Their job is to hold the
Varren off while you kill them w/ sniper or heavies. You can also run in
and aggro the Varren by shotgun, but you're risking missing one or getting
chomped. I never succeeded with this method, but I came close.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.5 N7: MSV Estevanico |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Nobody |
[]===========================================================================[]
Hourglass Nebula > Ploitari > 2 (Zanethu)
Nothing special about this mission. You're not under a time limit, so feel
free to explore.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.6 N7: Abandoned Mine |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Minos Wasteland > Fortis > 3 (Aequitas)
The husks will spawn forever, including from behind once you reach the fork.
Essentially, you're going to have to retreat from the fork, clear out as much
as you can, then go up the ramp (right side) and charge into the last room.
Shotguns and biotics help.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.7 N7: Imminent Ship Crash |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Garrus and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Pylos Nebula > Nariph
The challenge here comes in the second major room. You have to clear out the
geth atop the two balconies, then shut down both timers PLUS have enough time
to get up to the last puzzle.
Switch Garrus to sniper and use biotics to break the shields of the geth. If
you have trouble, bring Kali or Legion later on. You can also find safety if
you get right up against the balconies from below, where you can use biotics
through the floors above you.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.8.7 N7: Archaeological Dig Site |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Part 1: Rosette Nebula > Enoch > 3 (Joab)
Nothing exciting
Part 2: N7: MSV Strontium Mule
Omega Nebula > Arinlarkan
Run and cover for most of the mission. The ship's bridge is a bit of a pain,
send Grunt in to stir things up while you shoot from outside. As soon as the
bridge is clear turn around and take cover. The last few heavies are sniper
bait on the far side or lift/shockwave will send them flying.
Part 3: N7: Blue Suns Base
Sigurds Cradle > Decoris > 3 (Sanctum)
The first fight is long, but not much new. The real challenge comes from
the 2 YMIR mechs. The best tactic is to circle left and up the ramp to
take cover in the back room (where Narrom will spawn). From here you can
either try to get the mechs stuck behind the large platform at the end
of the walkway or behind some crates. Send your team to shoot from a safe
place and try to keep under cover. When the YMIR die, get away from the
walkway or Narrom will sneak up behind you.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.9 Jacob Loyalty Mission |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jacob |
[]===========================================================================[]
Oh yeah, forgot about Jacob.
The first battle is surprisingly stiff thanks to some of the feral hunters
charging.
After that, it's standard cover fighting until you get to the YMIR. From
here, retreat and you can shoot/snipe at the YMIR between the boards of the
wall or from the relative safety of the path. Use Grunt as bait and you'll
reach daddy without too much difficulty.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.10 Grunt Loyalty Mission |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
OK, assume the Keystone is NORTH
There's unlimited ammo strewn around, if you pick up ammo and wander away, it
respawns. Find the ammo and keep that in mind.
A) The Varren. You're going to stand in front of the SOUTHEAST stairway
where the Varren spawn, standing about halfway back toward the ramp. Station
Grunt and Jack up on the raised area in the SE corner so they're looking
down at the steps. As each Varren spawns snipe/heavy it and then shotgun it.
They'll come at you from the steps and from around the corner, but you'll
have a good area to shoot at them before they reach you. G&J should be taking
care of a few. IF the Varren get too close, retreat up the steps and go down
the ramp on the far side (WEST) and circle back.
B) The Klixen. Same idea, only you'll be circling the whole time. Set your
team free (down on the d-pad). As the Klix appear, you want them to chase you
in a circle around the platform. They're slightly slower than you, so you
can back up and shoot at them w/ your shotgun. Remeber to grab ammo.
C) The Maw. You should have the collector beam and a sniper rifle (otherwise
take Garrus). Go to the opposite side of the platform and shoot.
D) Last Battle. Kill Uvenk. It's not particularly special, retreat down and to
the right if things get hairy. You can circle behind Uvenk.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.11 Mordin Loyalty Mission |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Mordin and Grunt |
[]===========================================================================[]
There's really nothing new here. Do this one next because you're here anyway.
Make sure you do the scout mission and wrap up whatever else you've got in
your Journal here.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.12 Jack Loyalty Mission |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Jack and Miranda |
[]===========================================================================[]
Again, nothing terribly difficult. For the last fight flank left around the
table. Kureck will eventually come this way, so you might as well be ready.
NOTE: I do Jack's mission first because to get both Jack and Miranda to stay
loyal you need to avoid the "Miranda pissed at you" bug. You'll want a lot
of Charm or Intimidation skill before you do Miranda's loyalty or you'll get
one of the funeral endings.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.13 Samara |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack/Garrus |
[]===========================================================================[]
Two main fights.
Gunship: Station your team in the room before the bridge and go bait the
gunship. Put a person on either side of the doorway and stand back so you can
kill the Fenris mechs, then run forward and heavy/snipe the gunship. Do not
bother shooting at it from anywhere except the doorway. There are power cells
directly across from the door.
Last Fight: Essentially snipe and stay back. Send Grunt forward to get people
out of cover and flank around to the right when Wasea goes into the back room.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.14 Thane |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack/Garrus |
[]===========================================================================[]
Cover battle after cover battle. Stay back and send your team forward, there's
no secret way around any of these.
Krogan: After the first rescue, retreat as far back the way you came as
possible.
Bridge: Not much to do except inch forward. You can ignore the rocket drones
until you get up underneath them. Fight the last group from the stairs, don't
go up onto the platform or you'll get mobbed.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.15 Ghost Ship |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Garrus |
[]===========================================================================[]
Three painful parts:
A) The stupid f&$#@g platforms. My trick here is to wipe out the first
wave of attackers and the Scion with the M-920 Cain (nuke gun). Run forward
to the edge of the platform and start powering up the Cain as soon as the
incomming platform starts to slide down your field of vision. Timing doesn't
need to be perfect. Essentially, you'll wipe out the first batch of collectors
(no harbinger, either) and take the Scion down to 10% health.
Upside: No first wave, now you have plenty of cover on the second platform.
Downside: No heavy weapon for the rest of the mission.
After 5 ugly deaths on the platform I got through in no time w/ the Cain.
B) The Praetorian. Send Grunt and Garrus down to the lower floor before the
spawning (don't move too far into the room). Use them to wipe out the Husks
and Collector drones FAST. Then play ring-around-the-rocks with the
Prothea... er Praetorian.
C) The Harbinger hallway: standard cover fighting, you have to fight the
Harbinger several times. There's just no easy way to avoid killing him and
having him respawn shortly after.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.16 Samara Loyalty |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Samara and whoever |
[]===========================================================================[]
To get Morinth, search Nef's room and talk to the guy at the start of the
mission to get the main 2 talking points.
In the bar, defend the Asari, dance with the other Asari and get a round of
drinks for everyone. Ignore the insult and punch options.
Discuss music, mention Expel 10
Discuss art, mention Forta.
You can go either way on the drugs option
Discuss travel, power is it's own reward. If you screw this up, there's an
out if you have a high enough persuade.
If you have enough charm, you can resist Morinth and get a choice to kill
Samara. I haven't taken it, but it nets you Morinth as an exact replacement
for Samara. You can then romance her and die a hideous death whenever you
feel like it.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.17 Thane Loyalty |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Thane and whoever |
[]===========================================================================[]
I've never failed the interrogation part of this, not sure if it's possible.
You can fail the stalking part, though, so make sure you keep up with the
dude. If you're having trouble, it's probably during the part where he splits
up with his Krogan bodyguard. He's not as obvious standing against the wall.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.18 Tali |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Jack |
[]===========================================================================[]
I'm not sure why I wait so long to get Tali. Probably because I don't ever
use her in a party. I always go with Legion if I need Geth-killing power.
For this, stay to the right for the first section, up to the explosives. The
raised hallway is well covered and you won't get flanked.
After the block falls you're going to face infinite geth from the left (machine
shop area), so you have to push forward. After that, get up to the windowed
room on the opposite side to get a good angle on all the Geth Destroyers.
Once you're into the last section, reverse up the ramps from the Quarian to
take out the Geth snipers on the right bridge. Geth will continue to come from
that way to flank you, so set your team to shoot the front and left while you
keep that area clear. Once the destroyers come, I go left and then retreat
from the first wave. Then take the left path to get to the big guy. I've done
the same on the right, but there's not as much cover and the sunlight gets
annoying.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.19 Miranda Loyalty |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Miranda and Grunt |
[]===========================================================================[]
Trouble ahead. If you don't have high enough persuation, you'll be doing this
mission (or Jack's) for nothing. There's a lot of cover fighting, but nothing
out of the ordinary. For the last area I flanked right and left Miranda to
deal with the Boss Captain.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.20 Legion |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Grunt and Garrus |
[]===========================================================================[]
Husks, husks and more husks. Essentially inch forward until the husks spawn
then retreat. Shockwave is great here because it kills the husks instantly
after you drop their shields. If you don't have it, sub Jack for Garrus and
use it constantly.
For the Scions you have to retreat, sometimes back to the door of the area.
Two shockwaves will essentially kill you, so fall back and either use a
sniper rifle, the hand cannon or heavy weapon if you have it. You can send
Grunt around to try and soften/distract them, but he's going to go down so
you'll have to work fast.
The last area is just a nightmare, no holds barred. Wish I had a sure-fire
plan. The husks tend to favor the stair/ramps closer to the door, but that's
not a safe assumption to plan an attack around. Personally, I ran down the
ramps near the core, waited until they started to bunch up (be careful in the
corners, they crawl up behind you), charged around them to the ramps near
the door and then across. They tend to bunch up as they go up and over, so
I'd fire from the central platform, shockwave them, then run down. I'd
then repeat on that side. This gives you a chance to use shotgun/semi-auto,
then shockwave or lift. If you're a soldier, go with your big gun and aim
for the heads. Grunt and Garrus aren't huge helps here. They'd get swamped
and work as distractions, no matter where I stationed them. The best plan
seemed to be to put them in the central section to help keep the husks
from getting in the way of my circle, but it wasn't a great system.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.21 Tali Loyalty |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Tali and Legion |
[]===========================================================================[]
Oh yeah, take Legion on this one. The Quarian conversations are great.
Essentially bait and retreat. For example, there's a ramp where you can bait
the Geth to follow you down into a lab. If you set Legion and Tali up at the
bottom fo the ramp it makes a good crossfire. The only place this doesn't work
well is the room before Geth Prime. The balcony is a terrible place to set
up because there's Geth flanking on both sides and rushing the steps. I set
up in the room before the balcony and just risked a rush. Put T&L at the door
to slow down the destroyers and try to stay alive with shield bonuses.
For Geth Prime set Tali and Legion up to use drones. They're very effective
in distracting GP. Kill the Hunters with heavy weapons and kill GP with
whatever you have left while he tries to kill the drones. I don't think I
took any damage from Prime.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.22 Legion Loyalty |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Legion and Garrus/Grunt |
[]===========================================================================[]
I take Grunt because he has more armor/health. Make sure you save prior to
starting and at each doorway. The autosave system isn't as aggressive here
as I'd like.
Personally, I broke the green line in every room as soon as I found good cover.
The main area of difficulty is the console room. While the system is working
you have a few waves of Geth to deal with. The last 2 are the real pain,
rocket-Geth and Hunters start to pile up. Luckily your teammates will
heal after each wave without your help. The safest spot is near the entrance
of the room in a U shaped cover area. Focus on one staircase at a time and
use sniper/heavy/auto guns to clear it as fast as you can. Otherwise you'll
get stuck in the crossfire or flanked by the Hunters. Don't use all your
heavy ammo, but feel free to unload with anything else as the ammo respawns
and you can load up after the wave. Once one staircase is clear you can
take cover on the other side and deal with the remaining Geth with semi-auto
or the hand-cannon. Use Legion's hack skill as soon as shields go down and
any shockwave/lift you have. This will break up the incomming fire. I never
saw any point to the two turrets or the turrets on the floor below, they're
impossibly short lived.
After this mission, you'll have to break up another fight. You should have
plenty of charm, though.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.23 Everything Except Omega 4 |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Whoever |
[]===========================================================================[]
This isn't as important as it was prior to Ghost Ship or Horizon. By now you
should have maxed out most of the upgrades or know that they've become
insanely expensive. Buy whatever upgrades you don't have at Omega/Citadel/etc
and talk to all your teammates to finish off any storylines.
There are probably a few planetside missions left over, but I don't bother.
The smuggler cargo is impossible to get with 3 YMIR, they'll kill you or
destroy all the crates. The two new missions after Ghost Ship (the shield
puzzle and the kidnapped operative) don't pay much so unless you're on the
verge of buying a weapon upgrade, do the simple walk&talk missions and move
on.
[]==============================================[]
| 3.24 Suicide Mission |
[]==============================================+============================[]
| Team: Lotsa People |
[]===========================================================================[]
Everyone should be loyal.
Everyone should be leveled up.
If anyone isn't loyal, don't use them for anything and expect to see them die.
Vent: Tali or Legion.
Team 2 Leader: Garrus
Team 1: Grunt and Miranda/Jack
Escort: Mordin so he doesn't die randomly. Again.
Shield: Samara
Team 2 Leader: Garrus
Team 1: Grunt and Miranda/Jack
Final: I do Grunt & Miranda for damage & biotic breaking abilities. They do
a fair job holding the collectors off while you shoot at the Reaper.
Deaths:
- Ship deaths are caused by missed upgrades.
- Non-experts die (don't send Thane into the vent)
- Non-loyal team members die most of the time.
- Engineers (Mordin for me) die quite often in the last battle and team 2
missions. I've never lost one with Garrus as the leader, but the engineer
seems to drop dead on the last push if you don't have full loyalty on
every member.
Vent phase: You should have plenty of time until you get to #5 or 6. Note
that you can sprint past the harbinger and just hit the vent if you have to.
The 6th vent was particularly bad for me, so I ran past the remaining
collectors and hit the switch knowing I'd have more time on the 7th.
Shield phase: There are a few annoying spots (first Harbinger) but nothing
drastically new. Shockwave is very useful on unshielded Husks (take Jack).
Final run: The platforms are much easier this time. Take the CAIN and don't
use it on the Scions, you're going to want it for the boss.
BOSS: For the main boss, use the CAIN to drop his health fast, then switch
to sniper or heavy pistol and stand behind the tall wall on the lowest
platform. While Grunt and Miranda deal with the collectors you can stand
just behind that wall and be safe from his fireball attack. Unload on
him with anything you have (incindiary semiauto works well), then grab
ammo and retreat. Once the Harbinger starts to arrive, you're going to
have to do some scrambling to avoid getting smacked by his big cannonball
attack. As soon as he drops enough big ammo to fire the CAIN again, pull
off another shot. Between the sniper or heavy pistol, incineration shells
and two CAIN shots, the big T2 will go down screaming.
Hopefully everyone lives and you get the end credits without the
funeral scene. If not you can contemplate reloading or doing an easy run
for the other achievements.